Supreme Court, Lawyer Letter
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Lord Reed President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Parliament Square London SW1P 3BD [email protected] Cc Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, President COP26 Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, Attorney General Mr. Tim Crosland, Director, Plan B.Earth Re. Humanity’s Lifeline: the Paris Agreement Temperature Limit March 30, 2021 Dear Lord Reed: We write concerning the Supreme Court’s decision last December, which ruled that the Government’s policy in support of Heathrow expansion was lawful, despite the Government’s failure to take into account the Paris Agreement’s agreed temperature limits which constitute a key part of its architecture.1 There was uncontested evidence before the Court that: ● The expansion of Heathrow Airport would lead to around 40,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from UK aviation by 20502; ● That in order to meet the Paris Temperature Limit (ie 1.5˚C and “well below” 2˚C), carbon dioxide emissions would need to be “net zero” before 20503; and that ● Breaching the Temperature Limits prescribed in the goals of the Paris Agreement would have dire implications for humanity, in particular for the younger generation and the Global South. The Government did not explain how the expansion of Heathrow Airport could be reconciled with the goals agreed in Paris by every country in the world. To the contrary, it argued that the Paris Agreement was “not relevant”4. Chris Grayling MP, the Transport Minister at the time, relied instead on the historic 2˚C temperature limit, rejected by governments (including the UK 1 See R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd and others) (Respondents) v Heathrow Airport Ltd (Appellant) [2020] UKSC 52 2 See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878705 /uk-aviation-forecasts-2017.pdf, p.107, Table 36 3 See Court of Appeal judgement, para. 207: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Heathrow-judgment-on-planning-issues-27-February -2020.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3OQKZqQ_Wd41jVtcxrBimnVuqWMogMaPXgi1JYWrAA6XCF3lqhZL1uowQ 4 Ibid. para. 186 1 Government) in December 2015. The Court of Appeal ruled that approach unlawful, on the basis that it was the Government’s own policy to uphold the Paris Agreement - including its globally agreed temperature limits which are based on impeccable science: “It is clear ... that it was the Government’s expressly stated policy that it was committed to adhering to the Paris Agreement to limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2ºC and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5ºC.”5 Reversing the Court of Appeal’s decision, the Supreme Court held that the Paris goals could not be regarded as Government policy (despite the fact that the Government itself had accepted the Court of Appeal’s ruling6). Consequently, the Court held that there was no requirement on the Government to take the Paris goals set out in Article 2 into account.7 We urge you to consider the grave implications of this judgment. The highest court in the United Kingdom has set a precedent that major national projects can proceed, even where they are inconsistent with maintaining the temperature limit on which our collective survival depends. Indeed, the precedent goes further still. It says that the Government is not bound even to consider the goals of an Agreement that is near universally agreed. Not only does that undermine the UK’s status as a “champion of the Paris Agreement,” just ahead of the critical climate talks in Glasgow later this year (COP26). It also substantially reduces humanity’s prospects of maintaining that limit and hence, averting disaster. The rule of law, including international law, is a vital part of the fabric of a democratic society and it is key to securing the safety of our interconnected world. We understand why Tim Crosland of Plan B. Earth felt it necessary to raise the alarm about the goals of the Paris Agreement being ignored by British courts. We remind the Court of its own obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 to safeguard the right to life. That entails taking all reasonable measures to ensure respect for the entirety of the Paris Agreement. The climate crisis jeopardizes civilization and the natural world alike, with those who have contributed least to the crisis, the younger generation and the Global South, on the frontline. With all that is at stake, in the UK and beyond, we urge the Court to take appropriate steps to mitigate the profound harm its judgment has caused and to consider the actions of Tim Crosland in this light. Yours sincerely, Daniel M Galpern, General Counsel and Executive Director, Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative (United States) [To whom inquiries may be directed: [email protected]] 5 Ibid. para. 212 6 It was only the Interested Party, Heathrow Airport Limited, which brought the appeal 7 Supreme Court judgment, para. 112: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2020-0042-judgment.pdf 2 Farhana Yamin, Lawyer & Adviser to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the Paris Negotiations, 2013-2018 Dr Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, Assistant Professor at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Leiden University) and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (University of the South Pacific) Antonio Oposa Jr., Environmental Lawyer, The Philippines Normandy Chair for Peace Ombudsman for Future Generations Dr Natalie Jones, Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge. PhD in International Law, UK Paul Powlesland, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers, UK Sir David King, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge; Founder and Chair of the Centre for Climate Repair in the University; Former UK Govt CSA, 2000-7; FCO Climate Envoy, 2013-17 Conrado Hubner, Professor of Law, Brazil Melinda Janki, Lawyer, Director Justice Institute Guyana, Guyana James Hansen, Director, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions program, Columbia University, United States Caroline Lucas, Member of Parliament for Brighton, Pavilion, UK Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, United States Ralph Regenvanu, Leader of the Opposition, Vanuatu Dennis van Berkel, legal counsel Urgenda Foundation, Netherlands Marie Toussaint, Lawyer, Founder of Notre affaire à tous, Green Member of the European Parliament, France John McDonnell, Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington, UK Dr. Andrew Jackson, Assistant Professor, UCD Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin; Solicitor, O’Connell and Clarke, Ireland Alfred Lahai Gbabai Brownell Sr, Lead Campaigner and Founder/Green Advocates International, Liberia Joana Setzer, Assistant Professor, London School of Economics, UK Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards, UCL, UK 3 Korey Silverman-Roati, Climate Law Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, United States Gabriela Vega Téllez, Coordinadora De Pueblos y Organizaciones del Oriente del Estado de México en Defensa de la Tierra, el Agua y Su Cultura (CPOOEM), Mexico Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Legal Practitioner, Nigeria Dr Jason Hickel, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Diana Kaissy, Executive Director of Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI), Lebanon John W. Birks, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, United States Stuart Russell, Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of People's Lawyers, France Kiu Jia Yaw, Deputy Co-Chair, Malaysian Bar Council Environment & Climate Change Committee, Malaysia Dr Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Director, Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Ireland/UK Dr Gail Bradbrook, Extinction Rebellion, UK Esther Stanford-Xosei, Stop The Maangamizi Campaign, UK Prof. Rupert Read, Philosophy, Univ. of East Anglia, UK Mark Lynas, Climate writer, UK Samantha Hargreaves, WoMin African Alliance, South Africa Hasminah D. Paudac-Tawano, Litigation, Development, and Environmental Lawyer, Private Practitioner, Philippines Clive L. Spash, Professor of Public Policy & Governance, Ecological Economist, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria Rebecca Gibbs, Policy Analyst, UK Kofi Mawuli Klu, Community Advocate, PARCOE, UK Emily Shirley, Lawyer & Director Kent Environment & Community Network, UK McKenzie Johnson, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Simon Taylor, Co-Founder & Director, Global Witness, UK Mark Campanale, Chair, the Carbon Tracker Initiative, UK 4 William Rees, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia, Canada Rabbi Jeffrey Newman, Emeritus Rabbi, Finchley Reform Synagogue, UK Red Constantino, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Philippines Dr Aaron Thierry, Cardiff University, UK Nabil Ahmed, Founder, INTERPRT, Norway James Ninrew Dong, Reverend with Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, South Sudan Livia Trabulsi Rossi, Lawyer, UK Donald Brown, Scholar in Residence. Sustainability Ethics and Weidener University Commonwealth Law School, USA Stephen Leonard, President, Climate Justice Programme, Global Solomon Yeo, Activist, Solomon Islands Donn Viviani PhD, USEPA (retired), United States John MacKnight Fitzgerald, Public Interest Attorney and Advocate, and Counsel to Methane Action, USA Dr Stuart Capstick, Deputy Director, Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, Cardiff University, UK Scott Archer-Nicholls, Postdoctoral research associate in atmospheric science,